March 23, 2010

more Douglas Iris

As PhotowannabeSue mentioned yesterday in the comments; "the Douglas Iris begs to be photographed".

click photo for full-size imagephoto by Donald Kinney

I am always fascinated by the techniques different photographers use to make their photographs. Some, like my buddy in Ohio (((a pro))), would have spent a half-hour or more screwing around while shooting each of these images (((fill-flash, reflectors, diffusers, in-camera color temperature adjustment, histogram analysis, etc., etc., etc.))) -- but I'm here to confess that I am more of a snapshooter.

Oh, I have a nice tripod, but the darn thing is so heavy and time-consuming that I usually leave at home unless I know I'm going to be making some long exposures. To keep noise under control I like to shoot at a low ISO-100, which usually requires me to shoot wide-open in shaded conditions (((f-4 on my 70-200 "L"))) if I want to use a shutter-speed that is fast enough for me to hand-hold the camera. Of course, the trick is to find something to brace the camera on -- the side of a tree or the top of a fence-post works great, and failing that I've found that I can just squat down and brace the camera on my knee.

My lens has "Image-Stabilization" which allows me to be able to hand-hold the camera and shoot with a shutter speed two stops slower -- soooooooo, this all seems to work for me, but I am definitely aware of all the dedicated fussing around that some photographers go through -- I just don't have the patience.

click photo for full-size imagephoto by Donald Kinney

I'm finally starting to take more vertical shots these days. This set of three Iris were begging to be photographed... Notice the bud at the top getting ready to unroll.

4 comments:

your pics are awesome...enjoy the color and and detail you are able to achieve in each photo. Your background has the right amount of blur to it....is this achieved using photoshop?....thanks for the specs on what settings your using. A true find for me to have discovered your site...

HI GARY -- Thanks for the nice compliment. About the background, it's just f-4. Sometimes I'll blur a background in Photoshop, but not often. For these photos I was using 12mm and 24mm extension-tubes combined on the 70-200 "L" zoom.

thanks for the info...all i can really say is your photos are amazing..have a nice feel to them...the blurring is exceptional, easy on the eye and does not take away from the main subject...thanks again..